Preparing for Deliverance
Isaiah 33:1 NRSV
[1] Ah, you destroyer, who yourself have not been destroyed; you treacherous one, with whom no one has dealt treacherously! When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed; and when you have stopped dealing treacherously, you will be dealt with treacherously.
A woe to the destroyer (in this case Assyria) who has not been destroyed, and likewise to the trickster who has not been tricked. Yet when the destroyer and the trickster cease from their wickedness it will be too late, for then they will reap what they have sown. As an instrument serves its purpose and is later discarded, so Assyria was used to judge the rebellious of Israel, but when God’s wrath was satisfied they would then be discarded and destroyed.
Proverbs 11:5-7 NRSV - The righteousness of the blameless keeps their ways straight, but the wicked fall by their own wickedness. The righteousness of the upright saves them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their schemes. When the wicked die, their hope perishes, and the expectation of the godless comes to nothing.
Isaiah 33:2-6 NRSV
[3] At the sound of tumult, peoples fled; before your majesty, nations scattered. [4] Spoil was gathered as the caterpillar gathers; as locusts leap, they leaped upon it. [5] The LORD is exalted, he dwells on high; he filled Zion with justice and righteousness; [6] he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is Zion's treasure.
Even in the middle of judgement, the righteous know who to cry out to for mercy; no matter the circumstances, they wait on the LORD. Isaiah speaks now as if what has been proclaimed in verse 1 was now a present reality. While God turns things around for Israel’s benefit, Isaiah worships God and proclaims that no matter what things might look like now, the LORD has already filled Zion with justice and righteousness. Affliction, though harsh at times, reminds us of what is really important to us, and for those in Zion; their treasure is the fear of the LORD. Therefore it is out of our adoration for the LORD that we experienced God’s deliverance; by faith we are saved.
Proverbs 9:10-11 NRSV - “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.”
Isaiah 33:7-12 NRSV
[7] Listen! the valiant cry in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly. [8] The highways are deserted, travelers have quit the road. The treaty is broken, its oaths are despised, its obligation is disregarded. [9] The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away; Sharon is like a desert; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves. [10] "Now I will arise," says the LORD, "now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted. [11] You conceive chaff, you bring forth stubble; your breath is a fire that will consume you. [12] And the peoples will be as if burned to lime, like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire."
“Listen” is a clue that this may be the main point of the chapter, which is that it is when the Assyrians have brought God’s people to their lowest that the LORD will arise and come to their rescue. How many times has God’s grace lifted you when you were at your lowest? This in no coincidence, this is how the LORD exalts himself and causes our hardened hearts to see the error of our ways and repent. The “Assyrians” in our lives may inflict pain and destruction on us for a season, but help is on the way, and they will reap what they have sown.
2 Chronicles 20:15 NRSV - “He said, "Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you: 'Do not fear or be dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God's.”
Isaiah 33:13-16 NRSV
[13] Hear, you who are far away, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might. [14] The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: "Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting flames?" [15] Those who walk righteously and speak uprightly, who despise the gain of oppression, who wave away a bribe instead of accepting it, who stop their ears from hearing of bloodshed and shut their eyes from looking on evil, [16] they will live on the heights; their refuge will be the fortresses of rocks; their food will be supplied, their water assured.
“Hear” is another clue that this again may be the main point of this chapter, that while sinners tremble at destruction from the hands of the enemy, those who walk in righteousness have a clear conscience in the face of danger; for they have faith that God is mighty to save them. The wicked in Israel live in fear, while the righteous in Israel live by faith, for a soul that has faith can testify that no evil force is stronger than the LORD their God. Therefore the righteous will live by faith, they will not accept a bribe out of the fear of the things they cannot control, neither will they take pleasure in bloodshed or evil, but in contrast they will take refuge in the things that truly do protect them and they will not experience lack of food nor water.
2 Corinthians 5:7 NRSV - “for we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Isaiah 33:17-22 NRSV
[17] Your eyes will see the king in his beauty; they will behold a land that stretches far away. [18] Your mind will muse on the terror: "Where is the one who counted? Where is the one who weighed the tribute? Where is the one who counted the towers?" [19] No longer will you see the insolent people, the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend, stammering in a language that you cannot understand. [20] Look on Zion, the city of our appointed festivals! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be pulled up, and none of whose ropes will be broken. [21] But there the LORD in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor stately ship can pass. [22] For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our ruler, the LORD is our king; he will save us.
Not only will the righteous live by faith and have all of their needs supplied, they themselves will behold the eternal king Jesus with their own eyes. One my wonder, how can the righteous living in Judah in Isaiah’s day see Jesus when he did not come into the world until centuries later? The answer is that they will see him in the same way that we see him today; by faith in God’s promised restoration power.
Isaiah proclaims that this restoration power is present in his day, and it is also in the future to come beyond any human eye can see. For he declares that although Israel doesn’t quite understand or comprehend things in his day, in the fullness of time all those who fear the LORD will be be able to fully comprehend and see Jerusalem (which was already destroyed by the Assyrians) anew as a quiet habitation and an indestructible tent where the LORD is king and the salvation of his people.
Revelation 22:1-5 NRSV - Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Isaiah 33:23-24 NRSV
[23] Your rigging hangs loose; it cannot hold the mast firm in its place, or keep the sail spread out. Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided; even the lame will fall to plundering. [24] And no inhabitant will say, "I am sick"; the people who live there will be forgiven their iniquity.
This chapter concludes as it began, as a woe to the Assyrians and a song of praise for Israel. Those who have plundered even though they have not been plundered (ie. the Assyrians), will always come to reap what they have sown. Like a ship without a mass or sail they will find themselves stuck and at the mercy of the waves of God’s wrath. While simultaneously the redemption of God’s people who were abused will be so transformative that the weak will say, “I am strong”, and the poor will say “I am rich”. For as Isaiah concludes no one in Israel will say “I am sick” (v.24) because out of God’s mercy and forgiveness all of their strength will be restored!
Proverbs 11:8-9 NRSV - The righteous are delivered from trouble, and the wicked get into it instead. With their mouths the godless would destroy their neighbors, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.